World Bank loan for roads and agriculture, draft tax review released and rubber farming halts in Western Province. Our summary of the week’s business stories.
City Pharmacy Ltd (CPL) Group
2013 was a mixed year for PNG stocks. The Kina Securities Index fell by 14.9% over the year, but was largely influenced by the massive fall in value of the dual-listed Newcrest Mining, the largest company on the Port Moresby Stock Exchange (POMSoX). The Kina Securities Home Index, which excludes overseas stocks, fell only 2%.
The annual Papua New Guinea Advantage investment summit was held this week in Port Moresby. After two days of discussions, presentations, speeches, dinners and question-and-answer sessions, here are five observations.
Fresh-faced and newly-qualified, Mahesh Patel arrived in Papua New Guinea in 1984 to take up a job as a pharmacist. Almost 30 years on, he speaks with Andrew Wilkins about the building of retail and wholesale conglomerate CPL Group, one of PNG’s most dynamic companies.
Managing generational change is a big challenge for any business. We meet 26-year-old Max Puritau, who has taken over his parents’ business, Paradise Spices, and is seeing exports soaring.
Papua New Guinea enters 2013 with a new government in place, a major gas project nearing completion and some ambitious development goals, reports Business Advantage PNG’s Andrew Wilkins.
If foreign investors have generally been wary of investing in Fiji since the 2006 coup, Papua New Guinea has been the exception.
With PNG expected to grow faster than China in 2011, Business Advantage examines just who is investing in PNG and in what sectors, and asks where the best opportunities lie in the future.